What an exhausting day right? All you lovely Pictors met so many people, played even more ice breakers, and had a lot more to do today than I bet any of you counted on. All I did today was talk to people and I feel exhausted!

That brings me to what I like about Convocation. The lights are dim and you get to listen to people talk while a slideshow is playing. It sounds like the perfect formula for going to sleep, right? Well, yes in some cases, however, I'm hoping that none of you feel asleep as Convocation is generally something that Barnard students tend to remember FOREVER as many of the speakers mentioned.

Anyway, in case any of you did doze off, here is a photo (taken by my not so great camera phone) of the beginning of the candle lighting portion that took place at Convocation.

From the front gates, everything looks super chaotic. Students, their families, and all their luggage are lined up in multicolored chalk boxes all around Barnard's campus and everywhere you look, Orientation Leaders (in green and blue shirts) are running around helping people check out carts and move in.

Constellation Leaders are the only "helpers" in white shirts so you can't get us confused.

I have already come around to some of your rooms to introduce myself and I am super excited to meet everyone else as the day progresses.

Just a small tip: Orientation week is, hands down, overwhelming. You will meet a bazillion people this week, many of whose names you may forget. But, don't worry about that. Once school starts, things will go to "normal", or at least calm down a bit. But remember, it's always helpful to have upperclassmen friends in addition to your fellow first year friends! So don't shy away from the many activities that you have!

Hurrican Irene is rapidly approaching. I do not know if it is actually going to be a HUGE deal like everyone in NYC and the east coast is making it out to be, but it's always good to be cautious, which is why I have fled to New Jersey!

However, for those of you who are in its path/have had flights cancelled, please be safe!

On another note, here is a recap of everything that has been taking place on Facebook!

1. We have a personal Pictor Librarian who will be contacting us shortly and be joining us for out Constellation Pictor Pizza Party

2. Due to Hurricane Irene, move-in has been delayed to Monday.

3. Because move-in is now on Monday, the Barnard Loves NYC Event has been moved to Sunday, September 4th.

4. Our Pizza Party will not be after the Barnard Loves NYC event but on Tuesday evening.

5. Lastly, did you know that Barnard serves Crumbs cupcakes and very recently, Starbucks coffee???

My name is Sruthi Swami and I am your Constellation Leader. I am a senior at Barnard, a Psychology and French double major, and I am from the little town of Saratoga, California.

First off, let me say that I am beyond excited to meet all of you and share my enthusiasm and love for Barnard! Barnard Constellations is a brand new program that has been created with the goal of not only helping you all get a smooth transition into college life, but also with the aim of involving you in campus life and in all the fun things you can do on and off campus. Our Constellation is Pictor! It is short for the Latin term Equuleus Pictor which translates to painter's easel (according to wikipedia).

Our first official meeting will be on Monday, August 29th at the Barnard Loves NY event. While I cannot tell you where exactly we will be going, just know that it is an awesome location somewhere in the fabulous New York City! Just a small note beforehand, be sure to get a metro card before this event (hopefully on Sunday) and fill it up with at least $4.50. Otherwise, you will be stuck in a line with way too many people trying to buy a metro card at the same time. In addition, as we will be taking the subway, the 116th street station does not have an elevator, however the 125th street station has an escalator to the station, so please let me know if anyone has any special accommodations so that I can make sure that you can get onto the subway without any problems! Lastly, for this wonderful event, make sure you wear your Pictor shirt, which you will !

As I mentioned earlier, I will be your Constellation Leader not just for orientation but for the rest of the year, meaning that there will be a bunch of really fun events that I will be planning for you. A small sneak peek at one of these events: at the end of September, drop all your books and come for an exotic dance class on the Lehman Lawn! What type of dance? You will find out closer to the event!

In other matters, our constellation Pictor also has a facebook group ( http://www.facebook.com/groups/120036564759076/ ), which I encourage you all to join. This blog and the facebook will contain basically the same thing as some people like facebook better and some people like blogs better. They will be places that you can interact with other members of our fabulous constellation, but also a place that you can discuss things and ask me or everyone else questions about anything concerning Barnard, NYC, etc...

One last thing is that we need to come up with a mascot as well as a nickname for our group, so I wanted to pose this question to everyone in the group. I will also pose the question in the facebook group so feel free to e-mail me back with any suggestions or reply on facebook.

Again, I am very excited to meet and get to know everyone and I hope that you are equally awaiting your arrivals at Barnard!

What an exhausting day right? All you lovely Pictors met so many people, played even more ice breakers, and had a lot more to do today than I bet any of you counted on. All I did today was talk to people and I feel exhausted!

That brings me to what I like about Convocation. The lights are dim and you get to listen to people talk while a slideshow is playing. It sounds like the perfect formula for going to sleep, right? Well, yes in some cases, however, I'm hoping that none of you feel asleep as Convocation is generally something that Barnard students tend to remember FOREVER as many of the speakers mentioned.

Anyway, in case any of you did doze off, here is a photo (taken by my not so great camera phone) of the beginning of the candle lighting portion that took place at Convocation.

From the front gates, everything looks super chaotic. Students, their families, and all their luggage are lined up in multicolored chalk boxes all around Barnard's campus and everywhere you look, Orientation Leaders (in green and blue shirts) are running around helping people check out carts and move in.

Constellation Leaders are the only "helpers" in white shirts so you can't get us confused.

I have already come around to some of your rooms to introduce myself and I am super excited to meet everyone else as the day progresses.

Just a small tip: Orientation week is, hands down, overwhelming. You will meet a bazillion people this week, many of whose names you may forget. But, don't worry about that. Once school starts, things will go to "normal", or at least calm down a bit. But remember, it's always helpful to have upperclassmen friends in addition to your fellow first year friends! So don't shy away from the many activities that you have!

Hurrican Irene is rapidly approaching. I do not know if it is actually going to be a HUGE deal like everyone in NYC and the east coast is making it out to be, but it's always good to be cautious, which is why I have fled to New Jersey!

However, for those of you who are in its path/have had flights cancelled, please be safe!

On another note, here is a recap of everything that has been taking place on Facebook!

1. We have a personal Pictor Librarian who will be contacting us shortly and be joining us for out Constellation Pictor Pizza Party

2. Due to Hurricane Irene, move-in has been delayed to Monday.

3. Because move-in is now on Monday, the Barnard Loves NYC Event has been moved to Sunday, September 4th.

4. Our Pizza Party will not be after the Barnard Loves NYC event but on Tuesday evening.

5. Lastly, did you know that Barnard serves Crumbs cupcakes and very recently, Starbucks coffee???

My name is Sruthi Swami and I am your Constellation Leader. I am a senior at Barnard, a Psychology and French double major, and I am from the little town of Saratoga, California.

First off, let me say that I am beyond excited to meet all of you and share my enthusiasm and love for Barnard! Barnard Constellations is a brand new program that has been created with the goal of not only helping you all get a smooth transition into college life, but also with the aim of involving you in campus life and in all the fun things you can do on and off campus. Our Constellation is Pictor! It is short for the Latin term Equuleus Pictor which translates to painter's easel (according to wikipedia).

Our first official meeting will be on Monday, August 29th at the Barnard Loves NY event. While I cannot tell you where exactly we will be going, just know that it is an awesome location somewhere in the fabulous New York City! Just a small note beforehand, be sure to get a metro card before this event (hopefully on Sunday) and fill it up with at least $4.50. Otherwise, you will be stuck in a line with way too many people trying to buy a metro card at the same time. In addition, as we will be taking the subway, the 116th street station does not have an elevator, however the 125th street station has an escalator to the station, so please let me know if anyone has any special accommodations so that I can make sure that you can get onto the subway without any problems! Lastly, for this wonderful event, make sure you wear your Pictor shirt, which you will !

As I mentioned earlier, I will be your Constellation Leader not just for orientation but for the rest of the year, meaning that there will be a bunch of really fun events that I will be planning for you. A small sneak peek at one of these events: at the end of September, drop all your books and come for an exotic dance class on the Lehman Lawn! What type of dance? You will find out closer to the event!

In other matters, our constellation Pictor also has a facebook group ( http://www.facebook.com/groups/120036564759076/ ), which I encourage you all to join. This blog and the facebook will contain basically the same thing as some people like facebook better and some people like blogs better. They will be places that you can interact with other members of our fabulous constellation, but also a place that you can discuss things and ask me or everyone else questions about anything concerning Barnard, NYC, etc...

One last thing is that we need to come up with a mascot as well as a nickname for our group, so I wanted to pose this question to everyone in the group. I will also pose the question in the facebook group so feel free to e-mail me back with any suggestions or reply on facebook.

Again, I am very excited to meet and get to know everyone and I hope that you are equally awaiting your arrivals at Barnard!

Pictor is a small and faint constellation in the southern sky (declination −50° to −60°), located between the brilliant star Canopus and the Large Magellanic Cloud. Its name is Latin for painter, but it is in fact an abbreviation of its original name Equuleus Pictoris, the 'painter's easel', and it is normally represented as an easel.

Sruthi Swami

Class of 2012

Sruthi Swami and is a senior majoring in Psychology and French from Saratoga, California. She loves to eat, walk, read books, learn new languages, attend free food events, play volleyball, sleep in parks, and cook pasta. In the Barnard/Columbia community she is involved in a few things, namely Columbia Raas (a competitive Indian dance team), she is a Barnard Student Admissions Representative, and she writes for the Nine Ways of Knowing Blog. Off campus she work with kids and she also have an internship with an e-learning startup that works with flashcards and iPhone apps. And finally, her favorite thing to do in NYC is sit in Central Park in the middle of a field and eat cupcakes.